Catholic charities sue over Michigan’s ban on conversion therapy on LGBTQ+ minors!
Religious groups have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging Michigan’s ban on conversion therapy, alleging a law signed last year by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer violates free speech.
A complaint filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan states the law violates the free speech rights of counselors “based on its content and viewpoint and cannot satisfy strict scrutiny in the state.”
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties and Emily McJones, a Lansing-based therapist. Attorneys with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit legal group that aims to defend religious expression, are representing the plaintiffs.
Last year, Democratic lawmakers and Whitmer banned licensed mental health professionals in Michigan from practicing conversion therapy on LGBTQ+ minors. Conversion therapy is the practice of trying to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling or psychoanalysis, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP).
The groups suing the state over the ban argue it violates their free speech, free exercise of religion and due process rights because it limits how they can practice counseling minors who are questioning their gender identity or sexual orientation. The lawsuit specifically names House Bill 4616, which Whitmer signed into law last July.
“Because Plaintiffs are chilled or prohibited from discussing issues of human sexuality and gender identity, their clients are denied access to ideas they wish to hear and to counseling that would help them live consistently with their own personal, religious, and life goals,” the lawsuit alleges.
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